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User blog:Ibexgod/Sol: BI: Triturus giganteus
The next animal of Sol, and one that will take up much space if this ever does become a book.... _____________________________________________________________________________________ Giant newt (Triturus giganteus)- Giant newts are large pleurodelines (Newts), with an average size of 85cm, and some individuals reaching more then a meter. They are the top predators on the isle of Scott, which we know as the Scottish Highlands. They are endemic to this isle, as well as a select few surrounding isles. Description Their skulls have a different shape then other caudates, it isn't as rounded as modern newts, but not as long as a alligator snout, it's more in the middle. This large size however, also posed a problem, how do meter long newts maneuver well on land, never mind catch prey? The answer lies in their ribs,the 2nd dorsal rib sticks out slightly from the rest, and has a bony growth for muscle anchorment. The 3rd rib has a similar structure, and the 4th through 6th have a similar structure at smaller scale. These anchor large leg muscles, and there is a similar rib structure in the sacral area. With such muscles, they can even achieve short bursts of speed to catch prey. Evolution The reason they could take this niche, is because cats went extinct around 50 00 years before the separation of the islands, when Scotland was still part of the mainland. The cats never got back to the area, leaving the island free of major predators for 1.5 million years after the separation. This led to the evolution of flightless birds, like auks, and cormorants, even a flightless gannet. Then, newts took the niche of land predator, with the high amounts of rain, they could spend more time out of the water. It evolved around 3.5 myf, from British populations of Triturus carnifex (Italian crested newt) (Which also gave rise to Triturus spinus, the British sail backed newt, another creature endemic to the island.), which itself went extinct around 4.9 myf, which coincides almost exactly with when sea levels stopped rising, but this is most likely a coincidence. As it a top predator, it is somewhat more diurnal then other newts, aldo preferring night, it will come out in the day to hunt from time to time. The only reason this creature was able to evolve where the circumstances, in any other environment newts wouldn't have stood a chance of evolving into an apex predator. The circumstances where however, in the favour of predatory newts in Scotland. There where no predators on the island, and nothing suitable for the niche. Despite amphibians being rare in Britain, because no species could get on or off the islands, surrounded by sea, the newts, who, where already going after a more terrestrial niche, took the role of top predator. So, the rare circumstances experienced in Great Britain led to perhaps the one of the most interesting amphibians to ever walk the earth. However this reign was short lived, they went extinct around 8.2 myf, when the ocean levels had began to drop, and Scotland connected with the mainland, it was doomed from the beginning. They couldn't compete with the felids that ruled the rest of Britain. Category:Blog posts